What the President Must Do

President Bush is set to announce a new policy on Iraq on Wednesday. The Democrats have been worried that Bush is going to announce a troop increase in Iraq. Reid has said he would support a troop increase if it would get our troops out of Iraq in 2008. Reid and Pelosi on Friday told the President he couldn’t increase troops at all in Iraq.

Only the President has the power to decide how many troops are or are not in Iraq. The Democrats have been threatening to withhold funding for additional troops if the President does anything they don’t like. I think this is an empty threat. Nobody wants to tell American families that their troops are fighting in Iraq, but we aren’t going to give them what they need to win. Should the Democrats carry through on this threat, you can probably forget a Democratic President in 2008.

More importantly, something does need to change in Iraq. I believe the President is doing what he thinks is best for the long term survival of the country. But he has been too hands off, and has not communicated with the public enough. The Presidents polling numbers increase every time he gives a speech on Iraq. If the President is going to unify America behind the war effort Iraq is going to take, he is going to need to communicate more to the American public.

I don’t believe he should be giving out tactical information. However, regular speeches on the progress in the war would help his effort. The Islamic Fanaticals want us dead. They are only willing to accept one of three outcomes: the death of America, their death, or an Islamic America. To win a fight against these terrorist is going to take along time, and will span more than one President. President Bush has got to communicate that more with Americans, and he is going to have to do it for the next two years if he wants to continue this fight.